1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to cleaning brushes and scrapers for culinary applications. More particularly in a preferred embodiment, the invention relates to a barbecue (BBQ) grill scraper and brush with splatter guard protection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hand-held cleaning brushes and scrapers for removing charred residue from a grated or barred cooking surface have been known in the art. One such example was proposed by Daw and was awarded patent protection in 2000, and entitled “Combination Barbecue Grill Brush And Mitt,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,493. This solution provides a typical brush and scraper and further aims to protect a users hand from a potentially hot grill. For this reason a heat resistant mitt is configured to a handle of the brush/scraper.
One issue that is not addressed by Daw is that of containing splatter that has tendency to direct backward toward a grill user and may permanently stain clothes. Rothman on the other hand, U.S. Des. Pat. No. D546,066, presumably includes a feature addressing this concern. However this solution (Rothman) is applicable for a rotary grill brush and a solution applicable to a planar grill brush would be configured entirely differently. Notably, some grill brush manufacturers and users may not prefer the Rothman solution since it would be more expensive and have more moving parts than a comparable planar brush.
Present inventors have also previously addressed the splatter problem in a planar barbecue brush with U.S. Des. Pat. No. D653,037. Nonetheless, the present solution provides at least the following advantages of the prior art: the solution is able to be configured to existing brushes; the solution provides better range of splatter protection; a handle is provided for the guard portion (separate from a brush handle); an opaque configuration is provided as an improvement over a transparent design; and additional features as detailed and disclosed herein.